TOMMY GABRINI 2: A PLACE IN HIS HEART (22 page)

She
stood up to leave.
 
And it was that move
alone that terrified Jillian.
 
She knew
Tommy long enough to know what he was capable of.

“She
doesn’t have to leave,” Jillian insisted.
 
“Why would she have to leave?”

“He
doesn’t want me to see the violence,” Grace said to purposely provoke Jillian.

It
worked.
 
“Violence?” Jillian asked, her
heart hammering.
 
“What violence?”

“Go
to the car, Grace,” Tommy said again.

“Don’t
you do it, Grace,’ Jillian said, rising to her feet.
 

To
her dismay, Tommy stood up too.

“You
won’t bully me,” Jillian said.
 
“I didn’t
pay those people!”

“You’re
a liar.”

“But
I didn’t!”

“Grace,”
Tommy said, and Grace began to leave.

She
walked around the side wall and opened the front door.
 
Then she closed it right back, but she
remained in the foyer.
 
She could hear
them talking, or, more specifically, she could hear Jillian talking, but she
couldn’t make out what they were saying.
 
But the more she stood there, the more she realized something too.
 
This was her fight, not Tommy’s.
 
He wasn’t being accused.
 
His name wasn’t being dragged through the
mud.
 
She went back into the living room.

Jillian
and Tommy were still standing, and Tommy was now in her face.
 
Grace walked up and got between them.
 
But instead of addressing Jillian, she turned
to Tommy.
 

“This
is my fight, Tommy,” she said.
 
“I’ve got
to take care of this.”

Tommy
looked at her.
 
There was no way he was
going to let her take care of any such thing.
 
Until he saw that look in her eyes.
 
And remembered the beat down she put on Kelli Montiscue.
 
Whether he wanted to admit it or not, when it
came down to it, Grace could take care of herself.

“Handle
your business,” he finally said, “or I’ll handle it for you.”

Grace
nodded her head.
 
“Okay,” she said.

“Yes,”
Jillian said, relieved.
 
“She should
handle this.
 
This is between she and
I.
 
We can handle this like ladies!”

Tommy
dreaded leaving Grace with Jillian, but he also knew she was right.
 
He had to let go of her hand.

He
began to walk away, heading for the exit.
 
But he hadn’t even made it into the foyer before Grace, standing toe to
toe with Jillian, slapped her hard across the face.
 

Tommy
turned around swiftly, thinking Jillian had just hit Grace.
 
But when he saw Jillian’s blonde hair
swinging wildly, and her head cocked sideways, and her hand holding the side of
her face, he realized what had really transpired.

“I
didn’t come here to negotiate with you, Jillian,” Grace said.

“You
bitch!” Jillian yelled.

Grace
slapped her again.
 
So hard this time
that Jillian’s poodle jumped from her arms and fled.
 
“You’re going to have that press conference
today,” she said.
 
“Just like Tommy
said.
 
You will admit that you paid Rait
to tell those lies on me.
 
Then you and
Jared and Nayla will also meet the press.
 
And you’ll admit your part in their lies too.
 
You’ll admit that you paid them too.”

Jillian
stared at her.
 
“You think you’re
something, don’t you?”

Grace
slapped her yet again, stunning even Tommy.
 
She remembered how Jillian called her a whore in front of her staff, and
declared that she was nothing more than the help.
 
Now she wanted Jillian to see what good help
could do.
 
“I don’t think I’m anything,”
Grace said.
  
“I know what I am.
 
And we both know what you are.”
 
Then she walked over to the telephone and
picked it up.
 
“Schedule the press
conference, Jillian,” she said firmly.
 
“Get it all in the open now.”

Jillian
was seething with rage.
 
The nerve of
this child, she wanted to scream.
 

“Schedule
the press conference, Jillian,” Grace said.

“Or
what?” Jillian asked her.

“Or
Tommy will fight my battle.
 
You’ll be in
the fight of your life then.”

Jillian
looked over at Tommy.
 
He was now
standing there, leaned against the wall.
 
He’d already promised pain.
 
And
she knew him.
 
He always kept his word.

But
her word was her bond too.
 
“I didn’t
have anything to do with this,” she said.
 
“Nothing!
 
I don’t know who told
you I did, but they were lying.”

Tommy
looked at her.
 
Grace frowned.
 
“Ah, give it a rest, Jillian!” she said.
 
“It’s over.
 
You’re exposed!”

“But
I didn’t do anything!
 
I will gladly
confess it if it was true.
 
Because
frankly, I was thrilled when it all came out.
 
Just thrilled.
 
But you won’t pin
this on me.
 
I never met that Rawlings
man, nor did I so much as encourage Jared and Nayla to do what they’re
doing.
 
I had nothing to do with any of
it!”
 
Then she smiled.
 
“But it proves my point, Grace.
 
I’m not the only one who really wants to
screw you.”

Grace
looked at Tommy.
 
But Tommy was staring
at Jilly.

CHAPTER FIFTEEN

Although
the news of Rait Rawlings’ retraction broke that evening, and the six o clock news
mentioned it, they had too many breaking stories to give it hardly any
airtime.
 
In fact, his press conference
didn’t fully air until the eleven o’ clock newscast.
 
But that was the media.
 
It was front page news when the story first
broke.
 
Now the retraction barely
registered with them.
 

But
it registered with Tommy.
 
He and Grace
were at his home by the time the retraction came down.
 
Tommy was on the patio in his backyard, and
Grace was upstairs in his bed, fast asleep.
 
She attempted to wait to see the news at eleven, but she couldn’t
hang.
 
She was too emotionally drained
from all of the drama, and from too many late nights at work, until that
tiredness finally overtook her.
 
Tommy
carried her to bed nearly an hour earlier.

But
it did happen.
 
Tommy watched Rawlings
retraction to see it for himself.
 
He
stuck to the lie about the third man driving, as Tommy had told him to, but it
was clear his retraction only satisfied part of Grace’s problem.
 
There was still Jared’s allegations, and
Nayla’s.
 
And who was paying all three of
them.
 
Because Tommy never believed in
coincidences.
 
All three allegations were
not made within hours of each other by happenstance.

Sal
agreed, when he phoned Tommy.

“They’re
related,” he said.
 
“You’d better believe
that.
 
But Milt said it all led back to
Jillian.”

“He
changed his tune when I confronted him.
 
He admitted it was an educated process of elimination rather than hard
evidence.”

“Are
you fucking kidding me?
 
Milt knows
better than that!”

“I
told him, don’t worry.”

“So
we’re back to square one?” Sal asked.

“That’s
where we are,” Tommy said.
 
“Jillian’s
denying all.”

“But
do you believe her?”

“I
believe her,” Tommy answered him.
 
“Jillian has a sadistic streak in her.
 
She loves admitting her hate.
 
She
would love to take credit for Rawlings, Nayla and Jared, too, if she could.”

“So
there was no money trail that went from those two bozos from Trammel to her?”

“None,”
Tommy said.
 

“Damn,”
Sal said.
 
“So what’s next?”

“We
need a meeting with Nayla.
 
And we need
it backdoor.”

Sal
knew exactly what that meant.
 
“I’ll get
right on it,” he said.

“Okay,”
Tommy said.

“You’re
going to let Grace in on this one?”

“No.”

“That
Nayla chick is her best friend, though, right?”

“Ex-best
friend, yes.
 
That’s why I don’t want her
in this at all.
 
You find out something,
you call me.
 
I’ll take care of it.”

“So
once again,” Sal said, “you have to shield Princess Grace.”

“Don’t
call her that,” Tommy said flatly.
 
“And
you can call it what you want.
 
But when
shit starts falling, you can bet your ass I’m shielding her.
 
Just get Nayla,” he told his younger brother.

After
the call ended, Tommy sipped more wine and sat quietly in the late night
breeze.
 
It was after midnight by the
time he made his way back inside his house, up his stairs, and got into his
bed.

Grace
began to awaken as soon as she felt his arm wrap around her.
 
She smiled when she felt his presence.

“You’re
awake,” he said as his finger moved between her legs and began to rub her clit.

“Barely,”
she said with a smile.
 
“I missed it,
didn’t I?”

“You
fell asleep.
 
You were super-tired,
babe.
 
So I put you to bed.”

“Did
he admit he lied?”

“Oh,
yes,” he said as he kissed her ear.
 
“Loud and clear.
 
He was as
convincing in his backtrack as he had been originally.”

“
Umm
,” she said softly as the feeling of
his clit-massage began to overtake her.
 
“I’m glad,” she said.
 
“I only
wish Nay and Jared would do the same.”

“Oh,
they will,” Tommy said as he moved from just rubbing her clit to also massaging
her folds.
 
“Don’t you worry about
that.
 
They picked the wrong one to fuck
with when they picked you.”

Grace
smiled.
 
“Nobody fucks with me, Tommy?”
she asked him.

“Nobody
but me, babe,” he said.
 
“Which I’m about
to do right now!”

He
turned her onto her back, slung off that big shirt of his that he had put on
her earlier when he took her to bed, and then he began sucking her breasts with
hard suctions.
 
Grace opened her legs as
his body moved between them, and wrapped her arms around his neck as he went
from kissing her breasts to kissing her lips.
 
And by the savage way he kissed her on her lips, she knew this was not
going to be an easy fuck.
 
Most times
Tommy gave it to her slow and easy.
 
But
there were other times, like this time, when he gave it to her rough.

He
ravaged her mouth until the sensations made her feel as if he was already
fucking her.
 
But he was only just
beginning.
 
And she had only just begun
too.
 
She might have been tired and
sleepy when he first took her to bed, but now she was on fire with
passion.
 
Sleep and tiredness were
nowhere to be found.
 
She wanted it
almost as badly as he wanted to give it to her.

And
he gave it to her.
 
Tommy guided his dick
inside of her and then began to stroke.
 
He had an erection, but it wasn’t fully aroused until he entered her.
 
Then he exploded with arousal, filling her
pussy with so much cock that she felt as if something wide and long and made of
pure steel had been jammed inside of her.
 

Tommy
felt it too.
 
He could barely stroke
because it felt so tight inside of her, and so snug, and so ripping with
friction and fire.
 
He grabbed hold of
her, and she grabbed hold of him, as he thrust against her walls until he
erupted with thrusts.
 
And he began to
pound.

Grace
had to hold onto him tightly as his bed began to bounce and slide.
 
He thrashed her and thrashed her and she
screamed from his thrashings.
 
He pounded
her so intensely that she felt as if he was beating her, only his whips felt so
pleasurable that she wondered if she could bear the sensations.
 

“Take
me there!” she started screaming.
 
“Take
me there!”

And
Tommy took her there.
 
He fucked her so
hard that she felt drunk with his sex.
 
He fucked her so hard that when she came, she arched so high and felt
every inch of his dick so completely that she slung him off of her, and ended
up on top of him.

And
as soon as he shoved his dick back inside of her, and began to thrash her small
body again as it lay on top of his, he began to cum himself.
 
He held onto her ass cheeks as he fucked her.
 
He screamed his love for her as he fucked
her.
 
He thought he was going to stroke
out from the intensity and emotion.
 
When
he released inside of her, it was a drenching release.
 
And he kept on thrashing her.
 
He kept on pounding it inside of her and
pounding it inside of her until she was sweetly soaked, literally deluged, with
his love.

The
call from Sal came in nearly three hours later.
 
Grace was sound asleep when Tommy crawled out of bed, dressed quietly,
and left.
 
By the time he arrived at the
warehouse, Nayla had already been pretty well worked over.

Tommy
looked at Sal, who was sitting in front of her.
 
He had told Sal not to harm her, but he knew his brother.
 
His impatience was legendary.
 
By the time Tommy arrived, the truth was
already being extracted.

Sal
stood up when Tommy walked in.
 
Although
Tommy was dressed in a pair of jeans and a sweatshirt, he still looked as if he
could be on the cover of any glam magazine.
 
Even his tousled hair made him look super-sexy.
 
How any human being could look sexy at four
a.m. was a mystery to Sal.
 
But Tommy,
the lucky bastard, pulled it off without even trying.

“You’d
better be glad he made it,” Sal said to Nayla.
 
“And you’d better start telling the truth.
  
Nobody’s got time to be playing with you,
girl.
 
It’s too damn late to be fucking
around!”

Tommy
sat in front of Nayla in the dark, smelly deserted warehouse.
 
He could see, once he sat down, that she
already had a swollen eye and her nose was still trickling blood.
 
He looked at Sal again.

“What?”
Sal asked when he saw Tommy’s displeasure.
 
“I needed her to understand that this shit ain’t no game.
 
She wanna get in front of people and tell her
lies, then I’ll get behind closed doors and tell mine.
 
Only I wasn’t lying,” Sal said, drawing eye
contact from Nayla.
 
“Everything I said
I’d do, I will do.
 
Don’t you get it in
your pretty little head that I won’t.”

Nayla
already knew Sal meant business.
 
She’d
met him before, and saw him as a racist asshole even then.
 
But she took some comfort when she saw Tommy
Gabrini sit in front of her.
 
He was a
gentleman.
 
He wouldn’t hurt her.

But
if she thought Tommy was going to be understanding, and sweet talk her or
anything remotely resembling sweet talk, she was mistaken.
 
“You and Jared lied on Grace,” he said to
her.
 
“Didn’t you?”

Sal
moved closer to her.
 
She’d already made
that admission and he wasn’t about to let her back down now.
 

“Yes,”
she said, tears coming to her eyes, with her swollen eye hurting her so badly
that she winced from the tears.

“Who
put you up to it?” Tommy asked.

“Nobody
put me up to it.”

“So
you and Jared came up with this scheme on your own?”

She
hesitated.
 
“Yes,” she said.

“Bullshit,”
Tommy said.
 
“I saw that press conference
yesterday.
 
There had to be four lawyers
in that room, and all four of them are top dollar attorneys.
 
You and Jared suing a company the size of
Trammel, a company that barely breaks even, is not going to interest those kind
of lawyers.
 
Not even on contingency.
 
It wouldn’t be worth their time.
 
But they weren’t hired on contingency, were
they, Nayla?
 
They were paid up
front.
 
And paid well.
 
Who paid them?”

But
Nayla started shaking her head.
 
“Nobody,” she said.
 
“They get
paid if we win the case.”

“If
you don’t tell me who,” Tommy said, “I’ll have to find out.
 
My brother would want to find out too.
 
You’ve already seen what he’ll do to
you.
 
You haven’t see what I’ll do.
 
Now I ask you again: Who hired those
attorneys?”

“Why
do you keep asking me that?” Nayla said angrily.
 
“I told you they won’t get paid unless we win
the lawsuit!”

But
as soon as Nayla said it, Tommy stood up swiftly and kicked her chair over,
with her in it.
 
She crashed to the floor
and then scrambled to her feet, stunned and terrified.
 
Tommy began moving toward her.

“Your
daddy!” she blurted out in fear.
 
“It was
your daddy!”